Upfront week is usually dominated by talk about bold scheduling changes or the most promising new shows coming in September. But this year, it seems there's been less buzz about what's being done to attract advertisers--i.e., "Grey's Anatomy" moving to Thursday or NBC's slew of new dramas--and more about what the advertisers are doing, one in particular. ...Read the whole story

In a move that appears to let some of the air out of a radio industry effort to develop new competition in the radio audience measurement field, CBS Radio Thursday said it entered a seven-year agreement to use Arbitron's new portable people meter (PPM) ratings. The move was something of a surprise as CBS was part of an industry initiative pushed by radio giant Clear Channel Communications, that has been evaluating proposals from Arbitron and two other potential research suppliers: Local market media researcher The Media Audit; and magazine audience researcher Mediamark Research Inc. ...Read the whole story

Echoing a major theme put forth by CBS in its upfront annually, Fox argued Thursday that the strength of its fall schedule lies in its stability with a slew of returning series. The network, however, sought to distinguish itself from CBS--and the other major networks--by emphasizing its younger-skewing audience. ...Read the whole story

The new CW logo was bathed in all kinds of green color--as part of its new brand campaign. And if advertisers didn't get a clear message about the network's first ever program presentation, they got this--it's all about money. ...Read the whole story

Radio has a good shot at grabbing dollars held in reserve by major advertisers through the upfront season, according to radio ad sales firm Interep--although other media execs were quick to express skepticism about Interep's claim. ...Read the whole story

In an apparent bid to buy time and stave off what looks to be a mounting takeover of Aegis Group, the company's board rebuffed French financier Vincent Bollore's nominees to the board and said it would postpone its annual shareholders meeting to June 14 from its original date of May 24. ...Read the whole story

In what could be an industry first, on Monday the Consumers Union announced the launch of an ad-free quarterly women's shopping magazine titled ShopSmart, which aims to cut through ad hype to give readers the straight dope on various product categories. With an initial national distribution of 800,000 copies, ShopSmart, will be available at retailers like Wal-Mart, Borders, Safeway, Kroger, Public, and Barnes & Noble, selling for $4.99 an issue. ...Read the whole story